My coach said I need to squeeze glutes harder to extend hips, however, I'm having a hard time feeling when moving fast. any thoughts on this cue and any other suggestion on helping me extend my hips? thanks

dipankar mohanty

09-30-2012 08:16 AM

I'm a not coach or an expert on giving advice on technique. I'm a beginner. But I can speak from my experience but I'm not sure if this applies to you so take it with a pinch of salt. What I found is that a full hip extension is something that happens once you've nailed the technique, otherwise it won't happen. Even now I have the tendency to delay the extension a lil late, but when I get it right the bar shoots upward effortlessly. So if my advice is worth it, you have to be in the right position just before starting an explosive second pull. For that I did a lot of technique work of getting into the proper second pull position from the floor and mid hangs clean or snatches so that you accelerate from the second pull position consistently. If your hips lead first while standing up (a romanian deadlift position) or if the bar is hanging a little forward then you will not have a powerful hip extension so proper positioning is paramount. I suggest you buy Greg Everett's olympic weightlifting book and/or DVD cause its error correction section is brilliant. Hope that helps, but a disclaimer... I'm discovering things myself by reading and my own experience.

Javier Sanjuan

09-30-2012 08:21 AM

Hey Jackson,

My advice to you would be to focus on trying to push your feet through the ground through your heels as if you're trying to crush the floor underneath you. If you focus on this part rather than just "opening the hips," you'll naturally open your hips up with the violence necessary to elevate the bar upward. For me, I know it helped to stop hearing "open your hips." It helped to just understand that I needed to push really hard against that ground to get the height I needed (among other technical things). When I was told to "open the hips," I completely missed the violence of action needed and just extended my hips, which is missing the entire point. You don't want to jump off the ground. However, if it helps you understand the explosive violence that needs to occur in that second pull portion, then I think I'd rather you "jump," which is something that can be corrected later, over not fully realizing your explosive potential. Besides, with heavier weight, you won't really be jumping anywhere!

I hope this helps you in some way.

Best,
Javi

Jackson Yee

09-30-2012 06:31 PM

Great idea both of you! Thanks and really apprecite it!
Jack

Greg Everett

09-30-2012 09:26 PM

You can do a snatch deadlift, finishing at the top by activating your glutes and hyperextending the hips, then immediately snatch. In the DL, keeo your legs vertical and extend the hips behind them rather than reaching the hips through the bar.

However I do like Javier's suggestion to focus on jumping through the heels and being explosive rather than the extension directly.